Sports

Tullow, Carlow 34 Ennis 27 An all round better balanced Tullow side proved that bit too strong for Ennis in the All-Ireland under 16 rugby cup final at the 4G pitch in Mullingar this afternoon. The Carlow outfit got off to a dream start, scoring a try in the opening minute and they held the lead throughout. That said, Ennis never dropped the heads and battled back strongly, particularly in the second half but the Leinster premier side held the upperhand in the vital areas and deserved their win. “We were on the back foot from the word go. We had prepared well and we thought everything was right for us as the injuries had cleared up but the early score rattled us. We never got ahead and when we scored they hit back with a score. All credit to Tullow, they are a fine team”, Ennis manager Ken Butler said after the game. Tullow kicked off and attacked straight …

April 27, 2018Comments Off on Ennis 16s bidding for All-Ireland rugby title

Ennis RFC will travel en masse to Mullingar on Saturday to watch the U-16s vie for All-Ireland honours against Tullow from County Carlow. The boys have reached this stage of the competition on the back of an unbeaten run over the past two years in Munster, winning both U-14 and U-15 honours. ike a number of his fellow mentors, Butler grew up following the fortunes of Ennis RFC. His late father, Tony, played for the club’s junior team and served in a variety of positions in the executive. “Like a number of the other coaches in the club, I grew up going to games in the old showgrounds every week and developed an interest in the game from there,” said Butler, who recalled the work done at underage level by the likes of Jackie Morris, Joe Moloney, Malcom Lewis and Michael Considine to mention some. “They were very involved in the underage structure, which has expanded a lot in recent …

April 25, 2018Comments Off on Championship draws throws up some interesting pairings

THE Clare Senior Hurling Championship first round draws for 2018 have thrown up some mouthwatering contests. Champions Sixmilebridge will meet Clonlara in what will be a repeat of the final a few years ago. Cratloe will face Inagh-Kilnamona, while newly-promoted Kilmaley will face Newmarket. In football, the eight quarter-finalists from 2017 were seeded. Title-holders Kilmurry-Ibrickane will take on Kilfenora in the opening round. Clare senior football manager, Colm Collins, will manage his Cratloe side against his native parish Kilmihil, while former county midfielder, Ger Quinlan, will find himself on the sideline with Ennistymon against his native O’Curry’s. At the end of this season’s senior football campaign, five teams will be relegated to intermediate, with the intermediate winners being promoted. This will mean the 2019 championship will comprise 12 teams. The draws are as follows: Senior hurling: O’Callaghan’s Mills v St Joseph’s: Whitegate v Ballyea; Tulla v Éire Óg; Clarecastle v Crusheen; Wolfe Tones v Clooney-Quin; Cratloe v Inagh-Kilnamona; Newmarket v …

April 22, 2018Comments Off on Injury time heartbreak for Newmarket Celtic

Janesboro 1 Newmarket Celtic 0 For the second time in two weeks Newmarket Celtic have had to deal with the disappointment of being knocked out of a prestigious cup competition at the semi-final stage. Two weeks ago they wend down 3-2 to Pike Rovers in the semi-final of the FAI junior cup and this afternoon they lost out to Janesboro in the semi-final of the Munster junior cup at the Limerick club’s venue. Making this latest defeat all the harder to take is the fact that the game’s only goal came two minutes into ‘injury time’ and just as supporters were preparing for extra time. Niall Hanley scored the all important goal which will see Janesboro face their Limerick neighbours Pike Rovers in the final next month. While Newmarket had been under some pressure in the opening half, they had enjoyed the better of matters in the second period when they came close to breaking the deadlock on a few …

These are good times for Clare soccer according to Newmarket Celtic manager Liam Murphy, who is hoping to add further success when he leads Newmarket Celtic to Limerick for their Munster Junior Cup semi-final game against Janesboro on Sunday at 12 noon. Murphy notes Newmarket’s opponents will carry the favourites’ tag. “We are the underdogs. We are not stupid enough to think otherwise. They are about to retain the premiership in Limerick, something they have never done. They are trying to add a Munster Junior Cup to that and they are a force to be reckoned with. We have our work cut out to try and contain them and impose our game plan on them,” he told The Clare Champion. Newmarket met Janesboro at the same stage in this competition back in 2016, before losing out to St Michael’s in the final. That year, Janesboro defeated Newmarket in the FAI Junior Cup. Victory on Sunday would set up another match …

April 15, 2018Comments Off on Oscar Traynor champions advance to semi-final

Clare 1 Dublin AUL 0 Clare’s drive for a third successive Oscar Traynor inter league junior soccer title moved a step further at Frank Healy park in Doora this afternoon when they recorded a hard earned victory over a fancied AUL side from Dublin The decisive goal came in the final minute of normal time when Irish junior international Eoin Hayes applied the finish, Earlier he had seen his penalty attempt well saved by the visiting goalkeeper Lee Murphy. A near galeforce wind blew directly down the field towards the goals at the road side of the grounds and this made things difficult for the players. Clare played with the aid of the wind in the opening half but visiting goalie Murphy got little to do. Five minutes before half time he did produce an excellent save from Colin Ryan whose first time strike from the half way line saw Murphy dive full stretch to his right to keep the …

April 11, 2018Comments Off on Meehan and McInerney run riot for Clare minors

Clare 3-13 Limerick 2-9 FOR the sixth successive year the Clare minor footballers have beaten Limerick in the Munster championship. The county U/17s won this game in the first half with a blistering display of attacking football. They moved the ball at speed, their control was impressive, as was their tackling, although that deteriorated somewhat in the second half. Clare have now qualified for a Munster semi-final on May 8 while Limerick will be in action again next Wednesday, when they play Tipperary. Clare were in complete control at half-time, leading 2-9 to 0-4. Inside forwards, Shane Meehan and Mark McInerney, were absolutely deadly in that opening half. Meehan’s movement and ball retention was brilliant as was his finishing. The Banner club player put 1-5 on the board in a superb opening half hour of attacking play. He pointed 0-3 from play and the goal was an opportunist one, just before half-time. Limerick goalkeeper, Kevin Walsh, was unlucky to spill …

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